Just weeks after the profession got in a tizzy about private equity-owned firms telling staff to remove CPA from their email signatures and, in some cases, LinkedIn profiles, INSIDE Public Accounting has dropped figures on the average number of staff with CPAs at the hundreds of public accounting firms that report their data to IPA. Ready?
Between 2020 and 2024, the average percentage of staff holding CPA licenses across all firms dropped from 56.0 percent to 48.4 percent. This decline has occurred across all firm sizes, suggesting a systemic shift in both hiring practices and credentialing trends. Larger firms, which tend to offer a broader array of advisory and consulting services, report even lower CPA ratios, with only 41.5 percent of staff holding licenses in 2024.
Before we grab the pitchforks (they’re still cooling off from the last round of outrage, let’s give them a break), as IPA points out it’s worth recognizing that many firms have greatly expanded their offerings to areas that don’t necessarily require a CPA, like CAS. There’s an argument to be made about how the success of these offerings could be built on the trustworthiness and expertise of CPA holders providing these services but we don’t need to get into that today. If we want to be generous we could also suggest that part of this is firms adapting to declining CPA numbers and finding other ways to get their billable hours.
This trend is nothing new. Way back in 2019, the AICPA Trends report released that year stated that 31% of new hires at public accounting firms were non-accounting graduates, an increase of 11 percentage points from 2016 to 2018. By 2021, that number had increased to 42.7%. Unfortunately we aren’t able to say if that trend continued as the AICPA stated in its 2023 report that they were unable to accurately project the number of graduates hired into public accounting in 2021 “due to a limited response rate from public accounting firms.” If we had to spitball, we’d guess the number of non-accounting graduates hired at public accounting firms in recent years has easily topped half or more. Probably even higher than that in the two years since AI became the only thing anyone talks about.
Imagine trying to tell someone from the 90s that by the 2020s less than half of staff at CPA firms will be CPAs oh and also private equity and venture capital will be climbing all over themselves to get a piece of the business. They’d think you’re nuts.
The Gen Z and Millennials are too complacent and lazy to exert the effort to become licensed. These are the same people who whine about only receiving a 5% raise and wonders why they have been laid off.
Millennial here that was hungry and determined enough to get licensed. My wife cheated on me while I was busy studying and I left her after finding out, but hey, I’ll make partner in 15 years, right? RIGHT??
Was it at a Coldplay concert?
Millennials always want to play the victim.
When you say Millennial, what range of birthyear is in your mind? Promise you that Millennials born in the early to mid 80s play the victim to no one. Think about the things happening in the world and that they had to experience firsthand in their late teens through mid/late 20s.
You should like a brokie.
LOL. This sounds like my old boss.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too buddy. Either this is an valuable profession that requires a lot of work and we should be seeing the high 7% raises and 15%+ at promotion if we put the work in. Or it’s worthless and we should be grateful for more than a COLA adjustment. But if it’s the latter why should we bring work ethic, especially if there’s also no commitment to employee development, selling the partnership pipeline to PE, offshoring staff work…or just having a mediocre shitty firm that you expect young staff to pick up the pieces…surprise surprise.
Youre probably a moron that runs a dogshit firm…that’s why all your staff leave, and probably why your first wife left too.
Gen X here—
Largely about this reply, without the vitriol (though I understand it).
My generation and the ones before actually got rewarded, in general, for the extra effort and dedication. Today’s companies just consider that table stakes, which is utter bullshit. Like anything, you get out what you put in. If we expect dedicated, hard-working employees, it’s time to stop expecting younger generations to sacrifice the first 10 years of their working lives for kibble and actually pony up livable wages and bennies for them.
There is NOTHING wrong with Millennial and GenZ work ethic. They’re just smarter than we were, and expect to be compensated for it.
Standard, boilerplate reply from White America. Some of you just talk to hear yourselves talk.
Oh yeah and youre gonna lecture me about work ethic when youre commenting on a random accounting site on a Wednesday at 12:30. Scrub. I could work circles around you in your prime old man and I could do it without self medicating on cigs, alcohol or opiates. Now go spend time with your grandkids before they forget who you are because you had a heart attack at your desk.
Hey Boner Destroyer, you have unwittingly proven my point by your boring rant. Go pour your boss some coffee and quit scratching your nose and balls.
CPA is a dying profession (hyperbole, it’s fine just being brought back down to earth) and I am here for it. It has its places in audit and attestation, but that’s literally it. The exam is challenging but the hubris and entitlement it has attracted has really messed with talent acquisition culture.
The jobs I’ve had to fill have just been riddled with CPAs with minimal applicable experience. It really bogs down the process when I get a potential hire and the interview ends up being lackluster because their personality and “experience” is centered around their CPA. We need more than your license in industry.
I agree.
Those young people want BUT don’t earn
The CPA profession is NOT dying! Is it hard work to study AND have a job, in order to pass the exam and obtain the certification? You bet your life! Is it worth all the trouble? YES! I am now comfortably retired, but I continue my CPE because I am PROUD of my accomplishments and my contributions to US society. I am proud to be a CPA. It demonstrates that I have a set of skills that will help others to solve their problems. Sincerely, Robert L.Poley, CPA
I wish that was true. I’ve been licensed since 2018 and any job I’ve had outside of government accounting only hires experience accountants to manage the offshore, unlicensed accountants in India, México or thee Phillipines. Young accountants entering the job market are noticing that the CPA is not required of they are just reviewing outsourced work.
I’m a 29 years young CPA aspirant with over 8 years of experience in public accounting. Have a dream to become to add CPA after my name. Hope I get good opportunities while I’m here in the USA. I see many CPA firms not accepting this talent as I come from a different country. That’s bad 😔.
Becoming a CPA is expensive with the cost of extra education, study prep, and then the actual test. I get decent tax jobs as an EA and have no desire to do internal audits. I’m thinking of going to school to get a masters in taxation just so I can have extra knowledge.
Good! It’s outlived its utility, and for far too long it has gate kept the profession, and limited the talent pool. It’s actually asinine for the large firms that have audit and assurance in its own silo.
It comes from the AICPA, they tell members that they must safeguard the license. Meanwhile, I have never seen so many people leave public because they can’t get CPA, and are stuck at senior. While less tenured employees with CPA’s get promoted in a fraction of the time.
There are also relevant credentials outside of CPA that are more specialized (EA, CIA, JD, etc.)
It’s reminiscent of the record company executives demanding $20 for a CD you might like, creating the demand for piracy, and enter streaming.
Firm Partners: We don’t want to pay staff what they are worth, because we want all the money for ourselves.
Staff and potential staff: Fine, we will find another profession.
Firm Partners: Welp, no one to hire, so we better go hire in India!
Firm Partners: Hmmm… these foreigners are 1/3rd as good as American workers, but only cost 1/5th… score!
Firm Partners: Why don’t any Americans want to go into public accounting anymore? Who am I going to sell my practice to?
Private Equity: We know you can sell it to…
Private Equity: These firms already have a lot of work done overseas. How can we drive even more profit?
AI Industry: We know who you can talk to…
Clients: Wait a minute, we don’t want to talk to a call center employee and we don’t want to talk to a computer
Clients: Well, if we have too, we aren’t going to pay as much…